Furniture construction.



O. RUDD. FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED MAY7, 1915.

Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

i a; a re 1 OTTO RUDD, OF KENOSHA, "WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO SIMMONS MANUFACTURING COM- PANY, 0F KENOSI-IA, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed May 7, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Or'ro RUDD, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Kenosha, county of Kenosha, and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Furniture Gonstruction, of which the following is a speciiication.

.This invention relates to improvements in furniture construction and more particularly to a simple and novel means for uniting the posts, cross-rods and uprights of the head or foot unit of a bed.

The salient objects of the invention are, to.

provide an improved means for fastening together the various elements such as the uprights and cross-rods to the posts and top rail of a bed frame, so that, in the completed structure, no fastening devices are observable and a smooth exterior surface is presented throughout the unit; to provide a construction in which the end of the upright or cross-rod extends into the post or top rail, but in which there is no strain placed upon the portion of the walls surrounding the opening through which the end of the upright or cross-rod extends; to hold the uprights or cross-rods from lat eral movement by means of a cap or ferrule positioned within and spot welded to the inner surface of the post or top rail in alinement with the opening through which the end of the upright or cross-rod extends; to provide a construction in which the joints are rigid and unyielding, but are so constructed that the unit may be readily assembled; to provide a construction in which the ends of the uprights and cross-rods which extend into the posts or top rail are of a size just sufiicient to enter the apertures in the posts or top rail so that in the finished product there are visible neither projections nor apertures; and in generalto provide a simple and rigid construction that can be formed of light weight metallic tubing.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a bed unit embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical cross section through one of the joints. Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings, 1 designates a head or foot unit of a bed, this unit com,-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

SeriaI No. 26,502.

prising vertically extending main posts 2 and 3 mounted upon casters 4 and 5. At their upper ends the posts are connected by a horizontal top rail 6, the latter being preferably formed integral. with the posts 2 and 3 as shown in Fig. 1. In this type of construction, the posts 2 and 8 and the horizontal top rail 6 are formed from a single piece of light weight tubing, the ends of which are bent into substantial parallelism to form posts 2 and 3, and the latter are connected by a bottom cross rail 7. The connection between the rail 7 and the post is formed by means of joints hereinafter described in detail, and between the top rail 6 and the bottom rail 7 there extends a plurality of filler rods or bars 8 secured to the top and bottom rails 6 and 7 by similar joints.

The ends 9 and 10 of the uprights 8 extend within the top and bottom rails 6 and 7 through apertures 11 and 12 respectively, and the ends 13 and 14L of the bottom rail 7 preferably extend into the posts 2 and 3 through apertures 15 and 16 in the posts.

Wherelight weight metal is employed, the construction so far described is objectionable owing to the fact that the entire strain would come upon the portion of the metal directly surrounding the apertures. This would result in the cracking of the enamel, paint or other finish on the exterior of the tubing, but this defect is overcome in the present construction by the following novel arrangement of parts. Positioned within the posts and cross rails are a plurality of cap members 17 corresponding to the various openings through which the ends of the filler bars and the bottom rail extend.

Describing in detail one of the oints such as that between the bottom rail 7 and one of the filler bars 8, it will be noticed that the end of the filler bar fits over and telescopically engages with the cap or ferrule member 17 within the rail 7. The cap member 17 is preferably provided with a closed end 18, abutting against the interior surface of the hollow metallic cross railand is secured thereto by a plurality of spot welds 19 and 20. The employment of spot welds avoids the necessity of perforating the portion of the rail or post to which the cap is secured, and since the tubes are held from pushing against the sides of the openings through which they extend, any danger of cracking the enamel or finish near apertured portions is prevented.

The openings in the various tubes such as the aperture 9 in the bottom rail 7 are preferably formed centrally through the seam joint 23 as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. This further serves to protect the metal around the openings as the lock seam itself forms a reinforcement. The lock seam of the end which extends into the apertured member is also employed for an additional function.

One side of the cap or ferrule is formed with a flat face 21 against which presses the comparatively flat face of the lock seam 22. This engagement between the lock seam 22 and the flat face 21 prei ents relative rotary movement between the cap and the member which it telescopically engages, and thus in the assembled position of the parts the various cross members are rigidly held from both rotary and lateral movement. Longitudinal movement of the various tubular members is prevented when the parts are pressed together, the method of assembly being as follows.

The metallic tubing forming the various elements having first been cut and bent to the size and shape desired, the apertures are formed and the caps or ferrules inserted therethrough. The caps are then welded with their centers in exact alinement with the centers of the apertures, after which the transversely extending members are arranged with their ends fitting over the caps. The filler members 8 are preferably first engaged with the caps in the top rail 6, then Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the with the bottom rail 7 after which the ends of the latter are inserted through the apertures in the main posts 2 and 3. The posts then move or are forced toward each other and the entire bed unit is thus rigidly secured together by members entirely con-- cealed.

lVhile all of the joints are shown as formed with the concealed caps or ferrules, I do not desire to limit my invention to such a construction, nor in any manner except as specified in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1.. In a furniture construction, the combination with a hollow metallic frame member and a connecting member, said frame member being apertured to receive an end of said connecting member, of a ferrule member positioned within and secured by a spot weld to the inner surface of the frame member and adapted to telescopically engage the end of said connecting member which extends into the frame member.

2. In a furniture construction, the com bination with a hollow metallic frame member having inner and outer sides, of a connecting member extending in angular relation thereto, said frame member having its inner side apertured to receive the inner end of the connecting member, a ferrule positioned within the frame member and having one end united to the imperforate outer side of the frame member and the opposite end telescopically engaged with the connecting member.

OTTO RUDD.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

